Second corrections officer pleads guilty in jail smuggling case

Katera Stevenson, 25, had child with BGF gang leader

September 17, 2013|By Ian Duncan, The Baltimore Sun

Corrections officer Katera Stevenson, 25, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a racketeering charge, admitting her part in a Black Guerrilla Family gang network that smuggled drugs and other contraband into the Baltimore jail.

A corrections officer pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a racketeering charge, admitting her part in a major Black Guerrilla Family gang network that smuggled drugs and other contraband into the Baltimore jail.

Katera Stevenson, 25, had a child with gang leader Tavon White, conceived in spring 2012 while he was incarcerated and she was working at the Baltimore City Detention Center. At the same time, Stevenson helped White and other gang members smuggle drugs and phones.

Stevenson, who had worked at the jail complex since 2008, repeatedly answered "yes" as the judge explained the terms of the plea agreement. Stevenson could be sentenced to 20 years in prison. She and her attorney declined to comment after the hearing.

Stevenson is the third person to plead guilty in the case, following White and Jennifer Owens, another corrections officer. A federal grand jury indicted 25 people, including 13 female jail officers, this spring on racketeering and other charges.

White also fathered children with Owens and allowed Owens and Stevenson to drive Mercedes-Benzes, according to the indictment. But while Stevenson helped White and other gang members run the smuggling ring, things occasionally went awry.

One morning last November, Stevenson told White that she had left some contraband outside and had forgotten to wake up early to move it and it had frozen solid, according to a search warrant application filed in the case. The document does not say what the contraband was.

Stevenson could not confirm the exact dates of her actions, according to her plea agreement, but acknowledged that they were representative of her activities.

The wide-ranging allegations of drug smuggling and corruption at the downtown facility led to a sweeping review of Maryland's correctional system. A special General Assembly committee began meeting in the summer and will continue to meet through the fall to seek fixes for the problems.